Ultimate Sacrifice
by Starfire Eld
Summary: The first time Atem faced Zorc, he didn't have Yugi and his friends to destroy the Lord of Darkness. The first time, he had a far more difficult challenge...one that required the ultimate sacrifice. Oneshot


Atem struggled to his feet. Pain surged through his chest, a stabbing reminder of his weakness brought on by the destruction of the Egyptian Gods.

"My pharaoh, no," Isis said. "You have to rest. You're too weak to continue!"

"I don't have time for rest," he said.

He clutched at his chest and closed his eyes, willing the pain to recede for just a few moments.

"We've tried everything," he murmured. "Not even the Egyptian Gods could destroy Zorc."

"We will defeat him," Seto said. "You mustn't lose hope! I will call upon Kisara to help us, and –"

"And what will happen if the white dragon is also defeated?" Atem said, holding Seto's gaze. "Not only will you die, but Kisara's soul is likely to be destroyed as well!"

Seto flinched.

"Kisara..." he murmured, closing his eyes with pain.

Atem clenched his jaw.

"I have...one option left for us," he said. "But it is dangerous. And it's likely that I won't return."

Instantly, his guardians surrounded him, protesting. Atem held up a hand, and their voices quieted. Putting a hand to his forehead to still the headache, Atem stood as straight at he could manage and looked each of his loyal guardians in the eye.

"Everyone," he said. "Thank you for gracing me with your loyalty and companionship."

With shaking hands, he slipped the Millennium Pendant from around his neck.

"Seto," he said, holding the Item towards him. "Seto, if I don't come back, you are king."

Seto stiffened, and took half a step back.

"No, pharaoh! Don't speak in such a way! You have to come back – Egypt needs a strong leader –"

"And I trust that you will take good care of our people," Atem said.

His stomach turned at the lie he was telling. If this spell he planned on using worked, there would be no way for him to ever return.

"Please, Seto. Please accept this as a final order from your king."

Seto hesitated, trembling. Finally, he took the Pendant from Atem, holding it with a careful reverence.

"All of you," he said, looking at those that remained of his guardians. "I expect you to accept Seto as pharaoh, should I fail to return."

Isis, Shada, and Karim were the only ones left. Akenaten had turned to the darkness. Shimon had lost the last of his strength in summoning the Forbidden One. Mahad's soul was sealed in stone... Atem shook his head quickly, clearing it. The three guardians that were left nodded, but there was no lack of fear in their eyes.

"One more thing," he said, turning back to Seto. "If I don't come back, I want you to destroy the Millennium Pendant. Shatter it into pieces."

"What?" Seto said, eyes widening. "But –"

"Listen," Atem said curtly. "I cannot destroy Zorc. I can only seal him back to where he came from. As long as he still exists, there will be those that try to resurrect him. If the Pendant is broken, then only the one chosen to wield it can put it back together, and those of darkness cannot replace it in the stone to bring Zorc back."

After a long moment, Seto dropped Atem's gaze.

"Yes," he said. "You're right. I promise to destroy it if you don't return."

His eyes snapped back to Atem's, and the pharaoh nearly stepped back from the force in his gaze.

"But you will return," he said. "I know it."

Atem felt his heart sink. No. He would not return.

"Pharaoh," Seto said. "Is there no way that I could perform this spell for you?"

"No," Atem said. "If I were to tell it to you, the words would slip from your mind immediately. That is the way it works."

Seto inclined his head.

"Very well. Gods be with you, my king."

The rest of the guardians bowed their heads. With a heavy heart, Atem raised his hand to them.

"Gods be with you," he said.

He was halfway down the ruined street when he turned to look back at them. He knew he shouldn't have – they would know, then, that he would be gone forever. But it was too late: they had seen the look on his face. Shada and Seto stepped forward as one, as though thinking to stop him.

"Farewell, my friends," Atem murmured, just loud enough for them to hear.

He turned and ran, far out of their reach.

His legs went out from underneath him once he had made it far enough away. He was crying; he knew it, but he wiped the tears away angrily.

_I'm sorry, _he thought desperately. _I'm sorry. I lied. Forgive me._

He staggered to his feet.

"Pharaoh...Atem..."

Atem glanced behind him. Mana stood shaking at the end of the street, looking at him with fear.

"Mana," Atem said, his heavy heart sinking even lower.

"You're...you're going alone, aren't you?" she said.

"Yes," he said.

He raised a hand, trying to still her protest.

"No, Mana. I can't ask you to join me. I need you to stay here and help the people to safety."

"But...you're going to come back, right?"

"I am going to try," Atem said.

It was becoming so hard to tell the lie. Every time it passed through his lips, he could feel his heart tearing into even tinier pieces.

Mana came to him, took his hand in her own.

"Then...then take a little of my power, okay?" she said. "No, don't say no. If I can't come with you, then let me be with you in spirit."

A spark of strength flowed through Atem's limbs, and he found the strength to stand tall.

"Thank you, Mana," he whispered.

She stepped back, away from him, trying to hide the fear in her eyes and failing.

"Come back," she whispered desperately. "Just make sure you come back."

He took precious moments to watch her run away, knowing full well it would be the last time he ever saw his childhood friend.

"Goodbye," he whispered.

With the strength of the young sorceress in his veins, Atem made his way through the ruined city. Finally, he stood face to face with the Lord of Darkness himself.

"Zorc!" he shouted. "Your reign of terror ends now!"

The great Lord of Darkness turned to face him, his voice booming through Atem's mind.

"**Foolish mortal,**" he said. "**You dare to face me alone, without your guardians at your side, or your gods to protect you? You do not even wear the Millennium Pendant for protection!**"

"I won't need it," Atem said, sliding his feet into a more stable stance.

He put his palms together, calling to the power in his soul. Mana's gift had helped him more than he had realized. The spell would be simple with her help.

"**The mighty pharaoh falls here and now!**" Zorc boomed.

Fire gathered at the dragon's head. No! Atem started to form the words of the spell, desperate to complete it in time. The fire shot down towards him – he would never finish the spell before Zorc killed him!

"_Dark Magic Attack!"_

Mahad appeared before him, deflecting the spell around him.

"_Hurry, my king!" _he called. _"I can't hold him back for long!"_

"Thank you," Atem whispered.

"**You foolish creature! You have only succeeded in dying before your king!**"

Atem regained his stance, forming the symbols with his hands. He closed his eyes to remember the words. He formed the ancient words as they came to him. No one, not even himself, could have remembered them after they fell from his lips. It was a prayer, he realized. A wish to end the darkness.

"Seven items, seven seals, seven veils," he murmured. "And the eighth key will bind them."

He opened his eyes.

"I will speak my name to the heavens, and it will become last binding. I, Atem, now renounce my memories, my power, my soul, and my name, that the darkness may be sealed."

Burning, shattering pain coursed through him. The intensity of the pain blew through him with such fury that he couldn't tell if he screamed or not. Zorc cried out – seven symbols appeared in the air around him, lines spreading between each one. People disappeared from the pharaoh's mind; faces vanished one by one until he couldn't remember that he had forgotten them at all.

His name had been the first to go, and no matter how hard he tried, he could no longer remember it. He stumbled as his soul started to separate from his body.

There was only one thought left in his mind.

It was a face, one he had never seen before, and a name he had never heard before. He whispered the name before everything disappeared, a feeble, final wish.

"Y-Yugi..."

Dark Magician Girl, silent and invisible, caught the pharaoh's soul in her arms. He seemed so small then, as if he were only asleep.

"I won't let you become a wandering spirit without a name or memories," she whispered. "I promise, by the wish of my mistress, you will have a second chance."

Seto felt it in the air even before Zorc vanished into a blaze of light. The air crackled maliciously.

"Pharaoh," he said.

And he took off. Isis, Shada, and Karim didn't even have to ask – they felt it too. As one, the group hurtled down the streets of Egypt. They rounded the last corner – Zorc vanished with an angry shriek, and the symbols that had bound him fizzled from view. The sky brightened.

The pharaoh stood at the end of the street.

"My king!" Seto said, barely daring to hope. "You did it – you sealed Zorc –"

Slowly, as though time itself had slowed to a crawl, the pharaoh fell forward. He hit the dusty ground, unmoving. No one moved for a moment. Seto was the first to break the stillness.

The Pendant clattered to the ground as he dropped to the pharaoh's side.

"Pharaoh! Pharaoh!"

He rolled him over – he seemed so small all of a sudden – and the pharaoh's head flopped back, red eyes blank and staring.

Silence.

Isis collapsed, weeping into her hands. Karim tried vainly to comfort her, though he could barely comfort himself. Shada didn't move except for the tremble in his arms. With a shaking hand, Seto closed the pharaoh's eyes. He might have been sleeping.

What Seto did not notice was the invisible Dark Magician Girl, kneeling behind him. He did not see the pharaoh's sleeping soul transform into a ball of golden light. He did not see the spirit place the soul reverently inside the Millennium Pendant. He did not hear her whisper.

"The chosen one will come and release you. I promise."

Seto did not see her vanish, or her silver tears hitting the dust.

Seto laid the pharaoh's body gently on the ground, straightening his king's slowly stiffening limbs. A muffled shriek caught his attention, and he turned with a snap.

Mana stood shaking, her face contorted with absolute horror.

"He's...he's just worn out, right? He just passed out? Tell me he's just recovering from defeating Zorc!"

None of them could bear to answer her.

"Mana," Seto started.

Mana shrieked. She collapsed to her knees,

"No! No! Pharaoh! A –"

She froze.

"Seto," she said. "Seto!"

Her voice raised to hysteric octaves.

"I can't remember his name! I can't remember his name!"

"What? That's stupid," Seto said, angry with Mana for her hysterics. It was disgraceful to the pharaoh's memory. "His name is –"

With a shock, he realized that the name wasn't coming to his lips. He could just barely see the symbols that spelled the pharaoh's name – no, they were gone. Isis gasped, her tears flowing silently but constantly.

"That's what he did," she whispered with horror. "He renounced his own name. He renounced his very self to seal Zorc!"

"_What?_" Seto said.

"But if he renounced his name, he'll never find his way to the afterlife!" Karim said. "He'll be a wandering spirit for all eternity!"

The horror of the revelation held them all frozen. Seto glared down at the pharaoh's body, but the effect was lost by the tears bubbling in his eyes.

"You...you bastard," he said. "How could you do this? How could you be so – so – so infuriatingly self-sacrificing?"

A cry broke his attention.

"Mana!"

Mana yanked Seto's Millennium Rod away from him, pulling the knife out. She held it out in front of her, about to plunge it into her heart. Shada grabbed her wrists, pulling them above her head and forcing her to drop the Millennium Rod. Seto snatched it up, sliding the knife back into place.

"Mana!" Shada said. "You fool, what are you doing? What are you thinking?"

"What would Mahad have said?" Isis said, her voice a mixture of anger and fear for Mana's life. "What would the pharaoh have said if he saw this?"

"Well he can't see this! He can't because he's dead, and he can't even see me from the afterlife!" Mana screamed.

She fell limply from Shada's hands. She cried for a moment, then she flung herself onto the pharaoh's body and sobbed all the harder.

Seto clutched the Rod tighter, refusing to let Mana take it from him again. His clenched fists trembled.

"You...how could you?" he whispered, even though he knew the pharaoh would never hear him.

Sunlight glinted off the Pendant that still rested on the ground. With a fury, Seto snatched it up.

"You wanted it destroyed?" he said in a rage. "You wanted it destroyed? Fine!"

He whirled, smashing the Pendant against a wall. Pieces flew in all directions.

"Now it's the Millennium Puzzle," he said, still trembling. "Are you happy now, pharaoh? Are you?"

He fell to his knees. After a moment, he started to pick up the fallen pieces. He knew Isis was there behind him before she touched his shoulder.

"Seto, let us do this," she whispered. "After all, you... you are pharaoh now."

"No," Seto said. "I...let me do it."

Isis squeezed his shoulder gently. She understood. He knew she did.

Carefully he gathered all the pieces. As his hand closed around the last piece, a shiver passed through him. A ripple, small, and barely noticeable. But the pieces of the Millennium Pendant seemed to hum softly, as though with quiet, sleeping breaths.

He stared down at the pieces, slowly realizing what had happened.

"My king," he whispered. "You..."

The pharaoh's soul was alive. Sleeping, but alive. Seto's hands trembled. Did he dare? Did he dare raise the hopes of the others? Did he dare tell them that the pharaoh could return?

He closed his fingers around the pieces. No. He couldn't. He couldn't tell them, raise their hopes and then watch them come to nothing.

"The Millennium Items...have brought nothing but trouble to our land," he said. "Let us scatter them, so that no one can use them for evil again."

Isis, Karim, and Shada all nodded.

"The Puzzle will be laid to rest in the pharaoh's tomb," Seto said. "There will be one that can solve it, someday. And then..."

Mana's sobs were so clear at the edges of his mind.

"And then, perhaps the pharaoh...can return..." he whispered. The closest he would ever come to telling them the truth.

"Seto, let me take the Necklace and Rod," Isis whispered. "I...I will take them to protect the pharaoh's tomb until he returns."

Seto nodded shortly, handing the Rod to her.

"Shada and Karim, you will continue to hold the Key and Scales. Pass them down to your descendents as you see fit," Seto said.

They inclined their heads in acknowledgment.

"The Eye and the Ring will be hidden away, until they are needed again," Seto said. "So let it be written, so let it be done."

Seto turned away to look at the rising sun, not willing to look his friends in the eye. Slowly, they left, one by one. Shada led the sobbing Mana away gently. Karim took up the body of the pharaoh, carrying him as though he were a child.

Seto stared at the colors of the sky. Only because of the pharaoh's sacrifice were those colors able to be seen, breaking free of Zorc's eternal darkness.

"I will wait for you, my king," he whispered. "I will bring peace to Egypt, and take care of our people. Just as you wished for. But you will always be my king.

"No matter how many centuries must pass...no matter how many lives I must live...no matter how long it takes...I will wait for you."


End file.
